Press Releases
Pantone Moods Widget on Pantone.com
June 9, 2012 - Press Releases
CARLSTADT, NJ — On Friday, June 8, Pantone launched a new version of their web site that features ERA404′s Pantone Moods widget in the footer of every page of the site. The widget’s “Realtime” tab shows a streaming feed of moods and color chips submitted by users through the Facebook application, Pantone Moods. Visitors may also see the previous day’s most submitted color chip, mood keyword and submission city by clicking on the “Most Popular” tab. The widget compliments the application’s trending and reporting tab which was designed and developed by ERA404 earlier in the year.
Visitors interested in seeing the widget in action can visit: pantone.com. To submit moods to the widget, log-in to Facebook and add the Pantone Moods application. For more comprehensive trends, including proximity, gender, location and time matches, current color and mood comparisons, and global mood trends, click the “Mood Trends” tab from within the Pantone Moods Facebook app.
Pantone Moods currently boasts a lifetime user base of nearly 70,000 users and over a half million moods posted and has been featured in GDUSA, Communication Arts and other industry periodicals. The application was originally conceived and created by era404 in October 2008, and was redesigned in August 2011 based on the unprecedented response from Pantone brand advocates and fans on Facebook. See this project in the ERA404 portfolio, here: http://www.era404.com/loves/pantone/
www.era404.com Site Relaunch
May 21, 2012 - Press Releases
NEW YORK CITY—era404 Creative Group, Inc., the New York design, development and strategy studio, is pleased to announce the launch of its newly revamped website, portfolio and client portal.
The new www.era404.com showcases selected work from the past decade of business and is part of a strategy to reposition themselves as leaders in multi-disciplinary creative and forward-thinking development. The site features an online portfolio, creative reel and dozens of other HD videos that make use of HTML5 and browser-native players, eluding the requirement of plugins for Adobe® Flash and Apple® Quicktime videos. Each page of the site is saturated with social media options (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google Plus) and the site has been re-engineered to be optimized for search engines, RSS feeds, Facebook OpenGraph, mobile (and tablet) devices and responsiveness to multiple browsers/platforms/resolutions.
“For years, we’ve been helping our clients to embrace new technologies and audiences through emerging social media,” said Technical Director, Mike Citarella. “It was long overdue that we put into practice these beliefs, internally.”
The previous version of ERA404 was launched in 2005, before the boom of social media giants like Twitter and Pinterest and rejection of browser plug-ins (such as Adobe® Flash) for mobile and tablet devices. The new site tailors content to whatever device users prefer. But technology wasn’t the only consideration for the relaunch.
“[www.era404.com] embraces our updated aesthetic and philosophical beliefs much better than it has in the past,” said ERA404 Creative Director, Don Citarella. The company re-imagined their public image (era404 rebranding press release, stationery, creative reel, and typeface initiatives) to help direct their vision for the future of the studio and its work. “It’s much easier for prospective clients to see our multi-disciplinary expertise and drill directly into the type of work that interests them, be it: print, identity, strategy, environmental, digital, or motion design.”
era404′s new site and work can be viewed by visiting: www.era404.com from desktop, mobile or tablet devices.
ERA404 Regular Typeface
January 1, 2011 - Press Releases
era404 is pleased to announce the release of our new typeface, era404 Regular. The font was designed around our new logo and branding campaign, as a response to requests from designers and artisans within our network and our clients. It is now available for download on MyFonts in opentype format (Mac and PC).
About the Typeface
The new typeface complements the shape and strength of the graphic elements incorporated into era404′s new identity system. Each of the six disciplinary icons, which can be seen on the rebranding press release page as well as throughout the www.era404.com site, each begin with a circle. This shape, which symbolizes strength, is also meant to imply the genesis of the idea at the center of all work we do. As each icon “grows,” the idea begins to take shape. In all of our disciplines—print, identity, digital, motion and environmental design, as well as development and strategy—the idea remains our central focus toward growing new pieces. This concept is quite literally depicted in our disciplinary icons.
Continuing with this concept, the main logo for ERA404 was also redesigned to be encapsulated in the circle, effectively portraying the studio as an “ideas company.” The typeface was designed as an amalgamation of the rectalinear disciplinary icons and the circular, central focus. This gives ERA404 a nice balance between the rigidity of many condensed sans-serif faces and the graceful arcs traditionally seen in script or serif fonts. Recommended primary usage is for headlines and signage, however it may also work for body copy in some applications.
Licensing and Usage
The font, designed by ERA404 Creative Director, Don Citarella, is available through MyFonts.com and subject to their licensing, warranties, limited liabilities and EULA. For more information on how ERA404 Regular may be implemented into your design work and signage, please contact era404, here.
Recommended Links
ERA404 Creative Group Rebranding
January 1, 2011 - Press Releases
Commemorating Their 10-Year Anniversary, ERA404 Gets a New Identity
era404 Creative Group, a long-standing creative studio based in New York City, is unveiling the company’s new corporate identity this quarter. era404 (formerly era//404) has made the choice to update their 10-year-old mark, its supplemental iconography and palette, even the company name.
“Over the decade, our involvement with projects has grown. Clients are bringing us in to consult on strategy, research and discovery rather than simply implementation of design and development,” says Don Citarella, Creative Director of ERA404. “We’re pleased to continue these strategic partnerships to clients who are seeking our experience for bigger picture initiatives, as well as the finer details that we’ve always administered.”
The new branding and identity system are inspired by changes in the diversity of the services, which once concentrated primarily on web and new media design. The familiar “double-backslash” from the logotype has been removed, a reflection of the evolution of the brand to one of broader scope.
“Over the last few years our clients have been partnering with ERA404 to do more and more. Our core services—creative design and embracing technologies—remain at the heart of our work, but growing to encompass higher level initiatives—strategy, market concepting, producing, and so on—has helped solve our clients’ needs while giving us another edge where we can stand part,” says ERA404 Technical Director, Mike Citarella.
“If our clients are fans of the past brand, we hope they’ll find the same familiarity with the one we’re releasing this quarter. If anything, it was a response to their growing needs from era404, as a preferred creative and technology partner, that fostered the need for this rebrand,” Don says.
era404 will also be launching a new video reel and site in the near future, featuring current work ranging from print, web and application design, to motion graphics, event production, environmental design, and others.
Recommended Links
If you wish to contact ERA404 with feedback about the new brand, please visit the company’s website at: www.era404.com.
The 8 Coolest Holiday Pop-Up Shops
December 15, 2010 - Press Releases
Target Holiday Boat (2002)
In possibly the most epic holiday pop-up shop ever, Target created a temporary holiday bazaar on a 220-foot barge in New York’s Hudson river. For two weeks, the ship featured 92 holiday products–a number chosen from the classic holiday lyric “for kids from 1 to 92.”
Recommended Links
Beautiful Children Susceptible to Viral Marketing
April 30, 2008 - Press Releases
era404 Viral Video Gets Rave Reviews on Gawker, Adrants
“In this competitive publishing environment, you need book promotions that are really HOT…This is truly forward-thinking strategic marketing.”
Hamilton Nolan, Gawker
“We’ve seen a lot of videos used to promote all sorts of things…This is one of the best.”
Steve Hall, AdRants
Last summer, ERA404 was approached by Beautiful Children (2008 Random House) author,Charles Bock, to design and develop an online home for his novel. Upon its launch in November 2007, BeautifulChildren.net steadily grew to become an online portal for fiction readers and newly-found Bock enthusiasts. And while the site created a community for fans of Beautiful Children, it also provides a hub for teenage runaways, victims of the adult film industry, and kids who found themselves needing help, and people to talk to.
The novel, which focuses on the events that lead to a young boy’s disappearance in Las Vegas, follows a stream of inter-connected runaways through casinos, pawn shops, desert punk parties, strip clubs and seedy adult film studios.
“I wanted a site that would be its own world,” said author Charles Bock. “A site that supplemented the book and the characters. A place where a visitor would come away convinced this was going to be the coolest novel of all time, where someone could go to learn about the book, and where, at the same time, someone who had read the book could visit and feel like they were getting even more of the world of the novel.”
“Charles was quite specific on wanting the site to be more than just a marketing initiative,” said ERA404 Technical Director, Mike Citarella. “Part of the reason the novel is so important is that it doesn’t sensationalize the runaways’ plight, but opens readers to the harsh reality of the characters’ lives. A site that didn’t provide a community with online friends, outreach links and chat rooms to discuss these issues would go against the book’s values.”
era404 began by developing static storyboards for how the site would look and operate, based on conversations with the client, research from notes provided by the author and answers to the Ten Questions survey they ask all clients when embarking on a new web project. During this initial concepting, the author contacted a number of unsigned bands to feature their music on the different sections of the site.
“Charles wanted to be intimately involved in all aspects of the site’s concepting,” said Citarella. “His enthusiasm, talent and feedback played an integral role in the site’s design.”
Since its launch, BeautifulChildren.net has attracted thousands of unique visitors that spend time learning about the novel, talking with other fans in the online chat rooms, signing the guestbook and listening to music.
“We weren’t necessarily surprised that the site would gain traction among the target audience,” said Creative Director, Don Citarella, “though we hadn’t anticipated how quickly it would grow and the number of users that would regularly access the site and share it with friends. The main challenge of sites like these, beyond building a community of users, is to maintain traffic over long periods.”
“Following the initial surge and Beautiful Children becoming a bestseller, Random House wanted to offer the book for free for a three-day period,” said Mike Citarella. “We braced for the bandwidth and monitored the views and downloads as users shared the link with friends.”
When the free offer was over and the dust settled, the bandwidth clocked in just shy of its quota with over 15,000 downloads. The promotion increased awareness through an unprecedented amount of press and enabled book sales to level off during the following weeks. Traffic to the site, which had been tapering off since the book’s release, also continued to hold strong. But how long after publicity by the publisher and free offer promotions could the site maintain these numbers?
Shortly after beginning the site concepting, with the foresight that traffic would decline over time, ERA404 approached Charles Bock about creating a viral marketing initiative.
“Almost any site out there incorporates viral marketing of some sort,” said Don Citarella. “Anytime someone browses to a site, they pick up information—good or bad—and react. That, alone, is viral.”
“If they choose to email their friends or family, or mention it in a company meeting or at a family dinner, that’s how the marketing effort spreads.”
The idea was to highlight a specific chapter of the book, in which Cheri Blossom, one of the main characters, interviews for a pornography studio.
“In this section, Mr. Bock’s gift for making the reader feel helplessly vulnerable really shines through,” said Mike Citarella. “You find yourself conflicted between empathy and voyeurism. Bock artfully tears the reader between their own discomfort and curiosity for what happens next. Ultimately, this is the core of the novel.”
“Don [Citarella] and I were talking and he brought up the idea of a tryout video,” Charles said. “Immediately I was against it, because I thought we’d catch too much flack. But we talked about it, and agreed that if we came up with something that made the viewer complicit, something that was unsettling enough to pull a viewer in further, then a video could be a really effective teaser for the website, which itself is a great vehicle for the novel.”
era404 began by assembling a team whose core competencies would help to fully realize the vision of the viral concept. This involved bringing on members of their Creative Network, including director/editor Greg Stadnik.
“The guys at ERA404 were clever enough to tell me I would be working on viral marketing for a book, being published by Random House,” jokes Stadnik, “prior to informing me the video would resemble a porn audition.
Bock interviewed a number of actresses that were interested in playing the role of the young runaway’s first encounter with the adult film industry.
“We lucked out in that Dionne Michelle is an amazing, extremely talented actress, and Greg Stadnik knew exactly what we were going for. We shot the video in about two hours.”
“Charles is quite the character in his own right,” said Stadnik. “He was a pleasure to work with, and was a consummate professional when dealing with Dionne and myself on the set. Dionne is a very talented actress and addressed the subtleties of her role with ease and grace.”
As the challenge was to stimulate the viral marketing surreptitiously, it was important for it to grow on its own, without the intervention of ERA404 or the author.
The four-minute interview, titled Landey Audition Video, launched on March 12th under the guise of fictional adult film studio Slinky Fox Video (www.slinkyfoxvideo.com). With only a few minor pushes to public message boards and chat rooms, the developers were careful to not directly correlate the interview with the novel, author or publisher.
“Working with ERA404 on this was an amazing and surprisingly easy experience,” said Bock. “I think their implementation of the video — via the design of the Slinky Fox website, the links, and the credits box explaining everything — was ingenious. Through every facet of the process, they continually blew my mind.”
Within a month of its launch, with shared links and views steadily growing, the video was picked up by Gawker (Audience seeks Sex, Gets Book Instead) and AdRants (That Hot Chick is Also a Human Being) and the traffic exploded.
“It was back to monitoring and increasing bandwidth,” said Mike Citarella. “The site exceeded the bandwidth quota, yet again. When faced with the alternative (minimal to no traffic), this is a good problem to have.”
In the four months since the initial launch, said era404, the server had exceeded bandwidth quotas twice. The initial limit was set at 10GB/month and increased to 50GB during the free download promotion. Upon the launch of the viral video and a second bandwidth outage, the site had to be moved to a dedicated server with a quota of 100GB of bandwidth to allow for the site’s massive amount of traffic.
In his Gawker post, Hamilton Nolan said: “In this competitive publishing environment, you need book promotions that are really HOT…This is truly forward-thinking strategic marketing.”
Steve Hall, of AdRants, said: “We’ve seen a lot of videos used to promote all sorts of things… This is one of the best. One could argue it’s just another trashy sex-sells piece of crap but one would be wrong. The content of the video is directly related to what’s pitched at the end of the video and it’s wonderfully done. This work comes from a category that’s seen an astounding improvement in terms of what it’s done to promote its products over the past few years. It’s like they all woke up one day and realized, damn, there’s more to this advertising thing than small space, black and white newspaper ads.”
“Reactions to the video run the gamut,” says Bock. “People are shocked. They’re creeped out. But it sucks them in. Most of my friends who saw it the first time sent in emails — the first sentence says how disturbing it was, and the second says how brilliant it is. The goal was to get college-aged and post-collegiate males interested in the novel. But we’re also getting a ton of hits from people in the advertising and creative worlds, who check out the video to see just what we’ve done and this crazy world we’ve created.”
According to the site’s statistics software, during the next three days, almost every single major advertising agency in the United States watched the video and continued to the web site. On more than one occasion, agencies spent 1-3+ hours browsing through the site and video content.
The video reignited enthusiasm for the novel and online community created byBeautifulChildren.net and further reaffirms ERA404′s beliefs in serving the online audience rich media and innovative ways to appreciate popular culture.
“It’s wonderful to work with clients that are open to new and ground-breaking ideas likeBeautifulChildren.net and the viral video,” said Mike Citarella. “When they really embrace the idea that the web can do and be anything they can imagine, take risks and collaborate to explore new ways of promoting their services and businesses, that’s the most exhilarating part of what we do.”
Creative Director, Don Citarella, a guest lecturer with The School of Visual Arts andCommunication Arts (Insights 2005) interviewee, consistently promotes the value of viral marketing disguised as irrelevant content. “It used to be a Field of Dreams situation,” said Citarella. “‘If you built it, people would come’. Now, in the competitive online landscape, you have to be more innovative to attract audiences. You target people emotionally—for better or worse—and hope they react. At the very least, if they remember it, you’ve done your job.”
“I would highly recommend others to work with ERA404 on viral marketing initiatives,” said Stadnik. “They take a unique approach in using the latest technology, across various platforms, to best achieve both creative and effective results.”
“I honestly could not be happier with ERA404 and the work they’ve done for me,” said Bock. “What impressed me most about the process is the fact that these guys are pretty much geniuses at what they do, and at the same time they are patient with people who aren’t exactly internet savvy, and are also open to creative feedback on their work. I can’t imagine working with better, more professional, more excellent people.”
About ERA404 Creative Group, Inc.
Established in August 2000, ERA404 Creative Group, Inc. is a New York-based design, development and marketing agency. Recent clients include: The Australian Trade Commission, The Arthur Ashe Foundation, Broadway Video, Jonathan Safran Foer, The Herb Ritts Foundation, Sanrio/Hello Kitty and The Target Corporation.
For further information, please contact:
Don Citarella, era404
www.era404.com
Behind the Design: Brooklyn Style
April 1, 2008 - Press Releases
HOW International Design Annual
“Many wine drinkers select wines in part because of the label,” says Creative Director Don Citarella about his recent designs for the Brooklyn Wine Co.’s Feliz White and Red. “Our main goal was to entice customers to take that first sip. Afterward, the wines speak for themselves.”
To appeal to both Brooklynites and wine connoisseurs, the labels for two of the eight varieties, which will be released over the next two years, feature an image of Brooklyn’s iconic bridge.
“The client was fascinated by the fact that when Roebling designed the Brooklyn Bridge, he knew it couldn’t compete with the skyline of Manhattan,” Citarella says. “So he decided to build it to emulate the arched stained-glass windows of a church. This way, the bridge itself would become a backdrop for some of the most unforgettable skies imaginable.”
Citarella took advantage of those skies to create unique color palettes that capture the flavor of each wine: reds and oranges for the red wine and pale blue and gold for the white. He explains, “After experimenting with hundreds of combinations, we found the palette that embodied the visual identity of the flavor of each wine.”
Title: Brooklyn Wine Co. Labels
Firm: era404 Creative Group, Inc., Portage, MI: www.era404.com
Client: Brooklyn Wine Co.
Timeline: Two Months
Creative Team: Don Citarella, Creative Director; Ryan Seslow, Illustrator
Download: Brooklyn Style (PDF)
Creating a Lifestyle Brand
May 8, 2007 - Press Releases
Entrepreneur Works with ERA404 to Promote Brooklyn as a Culture
Adam Goldstein is pioneering a strong community in the heart of Brooklyn’s Park Slope—bringing together neighbors by sponsoring local events such as wine tastings and classes. Red White and Bubbly (www.redwhiteandbubbly.com) has generated a remarkable following by appealing to city dwellers with busy schedules and a broad spectrum of interests beyond their core product catalog. When it came to the online presence for this cultural phenomenon, Adam came to era404 Creative Group to design, develop and launchredwhiteandbubbly.com.
“Adam is one of those revolutionary thinkers. He’s detail-oriented and still has a clear view of the bigger picture,” said Mike Citarella, Creative Director of era404, who worked with Goldstein to concept the site and managed the design and development teams for the project. “He’s a Brooklyner to the core, so he lives among his target audience, engages with them, even golfs with them.”
When the project started out, Goldstein proposed a rather unique perspective. “We’re not promoting just wine—we’re promoting a lifestyle. It’s Brooklyn, really.”
era404 Creative Director and redwhiteandbubbly.com site designer, Don Citarella set forward collecting classical and modern imagery of the borough. “The more material I accumulated for inspiration, the clearer Adam’s vision became for me,” said Citarella. “Design a community portal that revolves around the product, but doesn’t insist upon the product. The events, the wine tastings, the customer reviews—they all engage the store and site’s visitors and are amenities to the catalog. The more you dig into it, the more you realize that it’s the catalog that’s an amenity to the site’s culture.”
The site’s wine catalog is very extensive, currently offering over 100 wines. Store reviews, tasting notes and other contributions were written by Darrin Siegfried, who has numerous accreditations including serving as President of the Sommelier Society of America. Customers are invited to read the reviews and contribute their own reviews to share their opinion with other Brooklyn wine enthusiasts.
Adam also worked with ERA404 to design a monthly newsletter to inform subscribers to the changes and trends in Brooklyn wine culture and notify them of the many monthly specials that Red White and Bubbly offers its customers.
“Along with my input, we were a very strong team: precise, smart and functional.” said Goldstein. “ERA404 has a great ability to grasp my ideas and concepts and put them into words. Their design talent is sheer artistry in producing a graphic masterpiece.”
The site soft-launched in mid-February to a steady 1,200 unique visitors per month. In the upcoming months, as the product catalog continues to grow, Brooklyn’s Park Slope residents will be invited to more community tastings, classes and events, and a full-scale marketing effort will mark the official launch of the site.
Following the launch of RedWhiteandBubbly.com, ERA404 has created printed promotional materials, billboards, in-store marketing materials and the label and identity system for his new business, Brooklyn Wine Company (www.brooklynwinecompany.net).
“Well, normally the vendor would take out the client as a business expense in appreciation for their services. However in my case, I felt obliged to treat them to a Peter Lugar’s experience in appreciation of their hard work for making my site even better than imagined.” Goldstein remarked.
“It was my first job with them. And in the end, I consider them part of my team.”
Press Links
Visit RedWhiteAndBubbly.com
See MyBrooklynWine in ERA404′s Portfolio
See the Feliz labels in ERA404′s Portfolio
About era404
Established in August 2000, ERA404 Creative Group, Inc. is a New York-based design, development and marketing agency. Recent clients include: The Australian Trade Commission, The Arthur Ashe Foundation, Broadway Video, Jonathan Safran Foer, The Herb Ritts Foundation, Sanrio/Hello Kitty and The Target Corporation.
For further information, please contact:
Mike Citarella, era404
www.era404.com
ERA404 Hired to Design Site for Tennis Legend, Arthur Ashe
February 27, 2007 - Press Releases
NEW YORK—On the 14th anniversary of the death of tennis legend, Arthur Ashe, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe and era404 Creative Group, Inc., launched the official site devoted to his life, lessons and legacy—ArthurAshe.org.
In early July, ERA404 was approached by former client, Jeffrey Ernstoff(www.ernstoffcreative.com), with an interesting project in mind—to work with Arthur Ashe’s widow, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe and design a site devoted to her late husband’s work.
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated in Arthur Ashe,” said ERA404 Creative Director, Don Citarella. “He’s an American icon—a legend—and the opportunity to participate in a project like this was a dream come true.”
Jeanne’s idea was to create a central repository for all things related to Arthur Ashe to offset the countless sites online that exist for the sole purpose of portraying him as a tennis legend alone.
“People are really enjoying Arthur telling Arthur’s story,” says Moutoussamy-Ashe. “He speaks for himself, he gives his thoughts, he gives these lessons, and that was what was so important to me—to have Arthur be able to tell these stories, and tell his legacy through his words, particularly to children, so that they can see him as a live person.”
era404, who designed the site and created the introduction and site tour, had one goal in mind when working on the project. “We wanted everything to look, feel and operate like a one-of-a-kind site,” said Citarella. “Jeanne wanted people to connect with Arthur and find the experience memorable. We wanted it to feel like you were having a conversation with him.”
The ArthurAshe.org site introduction mixes audio from people in Ashe’s life with visual elements that slowly weave a tennis net. When the user enters the site, they’re standing behind the tennis line of one of many different courts from around the world. Currently, there are different movies from parts of Ashe’s life: Life Story, Sport and Tennis, Kids, Education, Service and Wellness. As the site continues to grow, image galleries, video and audio clips, and text and web resources will continue to be added so that users can explore the different categories.
“We’re lucky now to say we’ve worked with two of our heroes,” said Technical Director, Mike Citarella. ERA404 designed the official site for late photographer, Herb Ritts(www.herbritts.com), in 2004.
“era404′s team is young and energetic. They were good listeners and had the ability to grasp the needs of the client,” said Moutoussamy-Ashe. “I had a very pleasant experience.”
“It was wonderful to work with Jeffrey [Ernstoff] again,” said Don Citarella, “and Jeanne is an amazing person. For the last six months, I’ve worked with a talented team of people to create an inspiring site to honor Arthur Ashe. I’m only sad that the project is finished.”
Press Links
Visit ArthurAshe.org
See this project in ERA404′s Portfolio
See an interview with Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe on CBS
About era404
Established in August 2000, ERA404 Creative Group, Inc. is a New York-based design, development and marketing agency. Recent clients include: The Australian Trade Commission, Broadway Video, Jonathan Safran Foer, The Herb Ritts Foundation, Sanrio/Hello Kitty and The Target Corporation.
For further information, please contact:
Don Citarella, era404
www.era404.com
Building a Better Mouse-Trap
February 22, 2007 - Press Releases
Transitioning from Website Interface Design to Application Development
In the Spring of 2002, I was hired to design an application for an events producer interested in sending out online invitations to events for the fashion industry. My client and I sat down and discussed the framework for the service that would eventually become an online contact and events management system. While I’ve had significant experience developing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for Websites and portals, this was my first design for an online application or click-and-mortar business.
My assumption at that time was that it wasn’t much different from designing a Website GUI. An application, like a site, would need to feature information architecture (IA) that was both intuitive and easy-to-use. The design strategy should take into consideration user tasks and functionality to stovepipe from general to specific. In my mind, I imagined the design to be similar to the IA of a site, where navigation items give way to sub-menus for the very same purpose. Afterall, all we are really trying to do is trap their mouse, attract new customers and sell new ideas.
The original branding of the application, called Reserve-U, was based on the 1930s era Automat. My client and I discussed that an application like this would empower users to take control of their contacts databases and sort and slot data for their own purposes. The design strategy evolved to use zeitgeists of the time—vivid, though muted colors, clip-art icons derived from magazines, and plastic and chrome graphic elements similar to those on malt shops and drive-in theatres.
Stemming from this foundation of a branding campaign, I moved forward to design the application as I traditionally begin Websites. The Homepage of the application presented users with two options: contacts and events. Upon clicking in, the user was brought to a sub-section where a dashboard of links allowed them to navigate to specific functions. The entire design was characteristically driven by grey and green tables with headers similar to the layout for popular social networking sites, such as Friendster and MySpace. The links, designed in an orange accent color, drew focus and urged the user to proceed through the various tasks of the application.
Reserve-U was launched later that Summer and PR firms and Events Producers contacted us about the application to replace patchwork systems built using FileMaker Pro, or the array of customer relationship managers (CRMs) and mailing list tools that they used. Their main interest was derived from their desire to use an application built to encompass all their industry needs and designed the way they work. Because of this interest, I had no reason to doubt my new-found skills as an application GUI designer.
As clients began to lease the application, however, some negative feedback also surfaced. Naturally, as many designers might be inclined to do, I dismissed the criticism as user ignorance. “These people aren’t really Web-savvy and don’t understand online applications and the limitations of the Web.” My ego intact, we continued to lease the application and wait for the voices to die down.
It took another year of client reactions to realize that I might have misjudged their pleas for a better application. Designers thrive on critiques. While positive feedback is always nice for a good ego-stroking, the negative criticism is really what enables us to excel, to grow and to learn from our mistakes. I’d stubbornly ignored a valuable resource for education and forfeited my opportunity to create a tool that was intuitive and easy-to-use. This realization led me to begin collecting the criticism that clients had willingly provided and even to send out questionnaires to pinpoint flaws in the application. My analysis of their comments revealed that the issues centered on the following three problems.
Extensibility
As Reserve-U began to grow, new application functionality was added to existing screens, patched into intermittent pages and band-aided on functions with previously-different purposes. The workflow of the application that had once been so function-driven was now a beehive. Users were forced into sub-sections of Reserve-U to perform tasks that weren’t intuitively part of their parent category. A logical process required them to click three levels deep into one section, re-route to a different section, and find the results redirected in yet another. New functionality added to one table was either ignored in another, or applied differently. Clients couldn’t find functions to perform the tasks they needed and, when they could, were unable to predict the results.
Workflow vs. Dashboards
My initial intent for Reserve-U was to mirror the Automat theory by creating a landing page for its different sections. This enabled the user to perform as many tasks as possible with the least amount of mouse-clicks. The thought process was to direct the users by using the accent color on the links. These dashboard pages ended up more of an eyesore as the orange links increased and took over. The tasks were arranged based on their time of inclusion and not intuitively grouped or listed by common use.Originating from the aforementioned extensibility problems, tables became unruly messes, squeezed into a hard-coded width and linked to unpredictable functions.
Essentially, users found themselves bombarded by links that didn’t define a logical workflow. In my effort to list functions at user’s fingertips, I lost regard to organizing them by use frequency and speed, thus trapping mouses from performing relatively simple tasks.
Design Limitations
As the technologies for Cascading Stylesheets (CSS2), AJAX and DIV-oriented site design grew, the site was pigeon-holed into using hard-coded values that obstructed its aesthetic. Each page had a content-area (defined at 600px) and a help area (squeezed into 200px) to assist users with smaller screen resolutions. My logic of focusing on the least common denominator and allowing help to be consistently present was derived from working with corporate clients afraid of losing visitors. I hadn’t realized that application development could allow for two key differences:
Application Service Providers (ASPs) could:
1. dictate required specifications for optimal use (browser, plug-ins, resolutions)
2. train user practices instead of rely on worst case scenarios
Even worse, I had used my experience as a pretense to misjudge client aptitude. Why present help on every page, taking valuable real estate, when I could simply train users to toggle its visibility? Why not offer a help section in a different area, rather than context-sensitive assistance on each page? If a user prefers 800×600 on Internet Explorer 5.0, must my application cater to their preference?
Furthermore, many Reserve-U clients were fashion show producers or PR firms that represented fashion designers, so aesthetic was significantly more important than it would be in traditional sites or applications. While this isn’t to say that color palette and branding elements are unimportant for your average Websites, their impact is elevated among clients that deal with aesthetic on a day-to-day basis. The industry equated form with function. While the site may have been designed well, it didn’t feel trendy. In my target audience’s minds, it isn’t a far leap to believe it didn’t operate well, either.
Further digestion of this analysis proved that a redesign wasn’t only suggested, but crucial to the application’s success. Mouse-clicks were lost, users felt trapped, and confidence was sacrificed. If I was interested in truly building an application that made it easy for events producers and PR firms to work, I would really need to start from square one to build a better mouse-trap.
Rebirth
In Summer 2005, Reserve-U was reborn as Lyrek. The application was redeveloped from the ground up to embrace our clients’ valuable feedback and introduced a whole new IA, interface and technologies.
Information Architecture (IA)
The IA was redesigned to focus on client workflow, rather than the dashboard mentality. Hallway pages were excluded and extraneous mouse-clicks were removed. Navigation was simplified and focused on common tasks.
The workflow environment allowed us to add information prompts to drive users in order of necessity with messages like “You must create the invitation for this event before you can invite attendees.”
Branding Design
The branding of the circa 1930s Automat of Reserve-U was abandoned for Lyrek’s tranquil water lotus. The concept was derived from growth, peace and a natural “human” element with our target audience in mind. Where Reserve-U’s identity was built on technology, Lyrek focused on empowering people. Now, the organic element showed that humans were the heart of the system, not machines.>Lyrek’s color palette was actually suggested by a client (“berries and ocean” rather than Reserve-U’s “peas and carrots”). The accent color was reserved for context-sensitive help buttons and important warnings and confirmations.
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
The help area was removed and replaced with a separate section outside the application process. In some cases, context-sensitive help remained, but it was rebuilt in DIVs to be activated on-hover so it didn’t consume valuable application real estate.
Technology
Tables in Lyrek were used solely to display data results as was their intended use before self-taught graphic designers crossed over to start pushing pixels and bastardizing XHTML. Otherwise, the application employed DIVs and Floats to flex with user browser resolutions.
AJAX was incorporated to suggest responses to further predict mouse-clicks, making the system smarter and shifting more of the labor to the application, not the user.
We switched to the Amazon.com tabbed navigation architecture, but only for the sub-navigation to not get into the same situation Amazon.com found themselves in years ago. style=’mso-spacerun:yes’> The tabs were built usingA List Apart’s “Sliding Doors” technique to be scalable, quick-loading and stackable.
Lyrek also included a Flash animation to show the progress of the mail engine. The pages with the movie incorporated Jeff Stearn’s SWFObject to take advantage of the new technology. While we consistently recommend that PC and Mac users browse Lyrek with Firefox, we don’t want to limit them from using Internet Explorer (as Reserve-U had done) if connecting from an event venue or remote location where they were unable to install or specify a different browser.
Repeating Mistakes
Most importantly, we didn’t want to repeat our past mistakes. This meant that Lyrek would need to be built to grow over time to incorporate new features. These features must follow the same logical workflow, where they would be found intuitively and operate predictably.
The site was also built to enable users to select a different color palette and customize certain table results. If the palette is really that important to clients, we might as well allow for them to select their own. And down the road, other industries interested in Lyrek may embrace a palette different than the water lotus theme. Or they may want to lease a completely skinnable version designed with their own identity in mind. Hard-coding the stylesheets would simply be duplicating a previous oversight of Reserve-U.
Application Design vs. Website Design
So how is application design different from Website design? I learned that while there are many similarities, especially in technology, there are a few key differences that must be taken into consideration.
The Audience
Application designers can assume the audience is smarter and more web-savvy than Website audiences for the sole reason that ASPs often allow developers to train them. This means that you can take advantage of specific browsing options, force the installation of plug-ins, and request preferred browser sizes. With this pre-trained and specialized audience, a lot of design limitations are lifted.
The Aesthetic
Contrary to most Website design, where the aesthetic is based on the company, product or services, the design of an application should be focused on the industry it targets. While Reserve-U’s automat theory was perfectly fine for an application of its core functionality, closer examination of this industry easily revealed that it’s not the optimal solution.
If you’re designing an application for a certain industry or demographic (such as a job placement application or an online store with a target audience), research what they value as far as color palette, type treatment, grid and layout. If you’re attempting to attract users that don’t fit into a general grouping (like a social networking or dating application), consider creating a design that allows the users to change some of the aesthetic to suit their needs.
Summary
Since its release, Lyrek has widely been received as a brand new application. The feedback I received from my clients truly helped me to build a smarter, faster and more sellable application, and while I feel somewhat more comfortable defining myself as an application designer, I know I’ll one day look back at this article and think of how little I actually know. I certainly don’t regret the mistakes I originally made when designing Reserve-U, but there’s no question in my mind that I had, and still have, a lot of growing to do.
The most important thing to take away from this experience is that I should never again ignore the precious feedback that comes from clients. Afterall, if you build an application for them, why not put the ego aside and let them teach you how to better trap their mouses.
For more information about Lyrek CEMS, click here.
The Australian Trade Commission Hires ERA404 to help Promote Designers Down Under
January 17, 2007 - Press Releases
era404 produces Australian Designer Collections Lookbook for Australia Week Fashion Event in New York
NEW YORK — G’Day USA is a major promotional campaign undertaken in the US, to celebrate Australian commerce, industry, culture and history and highlighting Australia’s vitality as a place to visit and do business in the 21st Century. G’Day Australia showcases all things Australian from food and wine, film, arts, lifestyle, trade and investment to indigenous culture and tourism. Promotions were carried out in Los Angeles and New York.
The Australian Trade Commission worked with the Australia Week Committee (comprisingTourism Australia, QANTAS, the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade and Austrade) in organizing a fashion event in New York in January 2007 to showcase a number of market ready Australian designers.
This year, the Australia Week Committee joined forces with the Ford Modelling Agency to deliver the Ford Models Supermodel of the World event, featuring Australian Designer Collections. This prestigious event has an established place on the New York fashion calendar, with a long history of launching global modelling careers, and of commanding the attention of fashion editors, buyers, designers and influencers.The January 2007 Supermodel of the World event will exclusively feature Australian designers.
In the recent past quite a few Australian Designers have been successful in the US. They include both well established and emerging designers such as Sass and Bide, Collette Dingen, Easton Pearson, Jayson Brunsdon, Lisa Ho, Zimmermann, Kit Willow, Alice Mcall, Josh Goot, Ray Costarella, Toni Maticevski, etc.
As the idea for the Australian Designers Collection gained momentum, Senior Trade Commissioner David Howard, and his team at Austrade New York, contacted era404 Creative Group about designing a printed a designer booklet featuring Australian Designers for distribution during, and following, the event.
“We were seeking a company that was professional and is known for providing quality services,” said Austrade, “and ERA404 came highly recommended by a third party.”
“Though we haven’t had much experience working with government agencies, we were still pretty excited to speak with Austrade,” said ERA404 Creative Director, Don Citarella. “They mentioned that the project was for the printed promotion of a NYC fashion event and we knew we were interested.”
Over the past six years, ERA404 has worked with a number of event producers, includingPhoenix Event Productions, LDJ Productions and Michelle Rago, Ltd., as well as NYC PR powerhouses Bismarck Phillips Communications and Media and Williamson PR. Close experience with these businesses and the fashion and PR industries has led to the primary work in ERA404′s portfolio: environmental and event design, and printed production and promotion pieces. ERA404 has even been offering an online contact and events management system catered to the fashion and PR industries (Lyrek CEMS) for the last four years.
“The Austrade Team noted that they primarily develop pieces internally, so we talked with them about the discovery and concepting processes we use to best create pieces that reflect the culture of clients and their events,” said Citarella. “As far as government agencies go, they were amazingly open to exploring different ideas to make this an elegant, creative piece.”
The lookbook includes fifteen designers, bios and signature photography from their work, combined with imagery of the peacock feather—a symbol of the cultural richness of Australia—with the eye in the shape of the continent. Inside pages were layered with vellum, translucent stock repeating these elements, with white-on-black design showing through. “The concept was to emulate the elegance, palette and layers of the fashion inside.”
era404 collected a number of estimates from printers all over the country for this project and Austrade selected Hudson Printing in Long Island City to produce the work.
“We have worked with Adam Blum at Hudson on a variety of jobs in the past and we were happy when Austrade selected them as the preferred printer based on their experience,” said ERA404′s Mike Citarella, who assisted in production management for the work. “We knew they’d take good care of Austrade and this project.” Hudson Printing and ERA404 won the Association of Graphic Communications’ prestigious Showcase Award for a 2004 project for Sanrio/Hello Kitty.
Despite time zone differences, changes to participating designers and production through the holiday season, the project was delivered ahead of schedule and surprisingly free of obstacles.
“ERA404 was a delight to work with during this entire project,” said Austrade. “They showed professionalism, creativity, flexibility and attention to high client satisfaction throughout the assignment. Their work was exceptional.”
When asked if he thought the project was a success, the Creative Director smiled. “David andPrashanti gave us a lot of freedom, opportunity for creative development, and hired us to sort through pictures of gorgeous women all day. What more could you ask for?”
Recommended Links
- See the Lookbook in ERA404′s Portfolio
- Australian Clothing and Fashion Overview
- Australia ready to say G’Day USA
About era404
Established in August 2000, ERA404 Creative Group, Inc. is a New York-based design, development and marketing agency. Recent clients include: The Arthur Ashe Foundation, Broadway Video, Jonathan Safran Foer, The Herb Ritts Foundation, Sanrio/Hello Kitty andThe Target Corporation.
For more information about Lyrek Contact and Events Management System, click here.
For further information, please contact:
Don Citarella, era404
www.era404.com
Prashanti Kanagasabai
Business Development Manager
AustTrade
www.austrade.com.au
Adam Blum
Hudson Printing
www.hudsonprints.com
ERA404 Credited in Signature Weddings, by Michelle Rago
January 8, 2007 - Press Releases
Creative Director, Don Citarella, receives credit in new book by client
NEW YORK — Michelle Rago, an event designer and the founder of Michelle Rago, Ltd., included a credit in her new book, Signature Weddings: Creating a Day Uniquely Your Own, to the book’s pitch designer and Creative Director of era404 Creative Group, Inc., Don Citarella.
“We’ve worked with Ms. Rago and her team for the last five years,” Don Citarella said. “So when she approached us about designing the pitch for a new book, we naturally felt honored.”
The book’s unique concept was an idea that the event designer came up with years ago. In her experience in working in the wedding and event design industry, she created an original process for stimulating creativity and designing one-of-a-kind events. The book focuses on this process and showcases examples of how brides-to-be can work with wedding designers/planners to create similar events. The original of this process changes the way designers/planners can look at designing weddings.
Signature Weddings is comprised of three main sections. The first section describes Ms. Rago’s collection of inspirational items (objects, colors, fabrics, floral elements, photos, etc.) or “ingredients” to form a creative library for the wedding. The second section talks about using these pieces as inspiration to carry a theme throughout every facet of the wedding. The bulk of the book showcases examples of how this process has been implemented in creating New York and destination weddings.
The credit to ERA404 states: Don Citarella – Thanks for being my partner in the original pitch! Didn’t change much, did it?
The Creative Director mentions the credit in his blog, saying “Michelle’s sincerity in the quote and care for the credit are both overwhelming.”
“As a side-note, the book is beautiful,” says Citarella. “She has compiled an amazing resource for brides-to-be, filled with experiences, examples and notes on the process she has created to design and produce some of the most memorable weddings ever. I’m honored to have been a part of it.”
Ms. Rago, who’s work has been featured in Modern Bride, Martha Stewart, New York Weddings, In Style, Quest, and a host of other industry periodicals, was named one of theTop 25 Trendsetters of the Year by Modern Bride. Her web site, designed and developed by ERA404 Creative Group, features six wedding stories (three New York, three destination), press, details, media and information about her company, Michelle Rago, Ltd.
Recommended Links
About era404
Established in August 2000, ERA404 Creative Group, Inc. is a New York-based design, development and marketing agency which shoulders an impressive list of clients ranging from not-for-profit organizations to Fortune-1000 companies worldwide.
For further information, please contact:
Don Citarella, era404
www.era404.com
Michelle Rago
Michelle Rago, Ltd.
www.michelleragoltd.com
LookUp, ERA404′s New Project Tracking Tool, is Made Available
May 5, 2006 - Press Releases
Project Tracking Made Easier for Post Shops, Using LookUp
Project tracking on Flame*/Smoke* devices can become quite involved and cumbersome.
Multiple operators, long-term projects, and disconnects between crews sometimes make tracking, archiving, deleting, even wiring, a time-consuming task.
That’s why ERA404 Creative Group worked with operators to develop the LookUp Tool, an automated approach to tracking projects giving all LAN users with access one-click retrieval of all device statistics/status, projects lists and project management assignments (archive, delete, wire).
How It Works
By using a standard web server’s inherent sockets connectivity, batch-performing the IRIX “vstat” command, and storing system values to a database, LookUp is accessed in a web browser and makes project tracking a breeze. Any workstation with access to LookUp can schedule a regular task to update the LookUp database, so users will have the most current records when they arrive to work in the morning. Alternately, a server-side CRON can be scheduled for hourly updates to the system database.
Summary
From LookUp’s Summary (home) page, listed for each device is:
- Device Name
- Framestore Total Storage (MB)
- Framestore Used Storage (MB)
- Framestore Usage Percent
- Hard Drive Usage Percent
- License Expiration
Devices nearing their capacity are shown in red, to draw attention to potential system warnings or faults. License Expiration is also clickable to view license detail and is also shown in red when renewal is required.
Reports
Choosing a device from the navigation gives users a project-by-project breakdown of device activity, including frame usage, and management assignments. From a dropdown, users can mark a project for archival, deletion, and wire (to adjacent device). Free-text fields are given for each project, so that scheduling personnel and other users may enter comments about the project for other users to review. These assignments are stored along-side the projects and can be updated as often as necessary for up-to-date system-wide notification.
To-Do
Technicians responsible for performing archives, deletes and wire transfers are given a To-Do “worksheet” as a guide for routine system maintenance. As projects are given management assignments, these specifications are automatically added to a printable To-Do list with checkboxes for on-site recording of task completion. Then, as projects are wired or deleted, the LookUp finds this activity and updates the database during the next scheduled update.
Security
Because LookUp is installed on an existing intranet (or internet), access permissions can be administrated using standard network procedures. htaccess can govern LookUp scripts for one-touch access to intranet users, while requiring authentication from external internet requests. This framework gives your IT manager complete control over your devices’ project security.
Make the tedium of project tracking a thing of the past, by buying your license of the ERA404 Creative Group LookUp Tool. For more information, please contact:
Mike Citarella
Product Sales
http://www.era404.com/
Download Sales Sheet:
era404_lookup (PDF)
System Requirements:
- OS: Existing
- Web Server: Apache or other existing
- Database: MySQL
- Processor Language: PHP 4.0+
* Autodesk Flame, Inferno, and Smoke are either registered trademarks
or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc./Autodesk Canada Co. in the USA and other countries.
A letter from Mark McKenna
October 13, 2005 - Press Releases
CEO of The Herb Ritts Foundation
To Whom It May Concern:
The craft of web design may be relatively young but its importance can no longer be overlooked. Over the last few years we interviewed many designers and realized how difficult it was finding someone who not only understood the clean simple style of Herb Ritts’ work, but could offer the technical skills we required. ERA404 immediately understood what we needed and was capable of taking us to the next level with our web presence. Don Citarella’s (era404 Creative Director) ability to design a site that had Herb’s aesthetic sense was apparent right from the beginning. He also understood that as a private Foundation we needed a site that was easy to navigate and as informative as possible.
One of our largest concerns was making sure we could maintain the site at a moments notice. ERA404′s functionality allowed someone with little technical experience to update the site when required.
Operations Director, Chris Citarella, relayed with ease even the most complicated technical information to someone lacking technical savvy. Their communication is unsurpassed as it seems an asset missing in many design firms.
In short, ERA404 proved to be the best “one stop” design studio. They take the time to understand their client’s needs, insure a strong web presence and provide unparalleled technical support.
Sincerely,
Mark McKenna
Herb Ritts Foundation
Recommended Links
Viral Marketing Disguised As Irrelevant Content
September 6, 2005 - Press Releases
Communication Arts/Design Interact Insights Column. Interview of Don Citarella
Don Citarella, a graphic and Web designer at ERA404 Creative Group, Inc. is among a handful of people in this industry who entered the field determinedly. A passion for identity design and branding was nurtured in college, by a couple of professors from Herman Miller’s design team who never settled for “good enough.”
What’s currently your favorite site/project?
Donnie Darko, The Movie.
What’s the subject/topic of it?
Online Promotion for the film Donnie Darko.
What’s so great about it?
From a marketing standpoint, it was a ground-breaking approach for stirring the hype of the first cult hit of the new millennium. Those who hadn’t seen the movie, or didn’t appreciate it, still visited the site. Those who loved the movie found a digital home parallel to its celluloid foundation. And Web designers, movie promoters, pop culture enthusiasts and Internet junkies alike found a tangent universe in the Web that hadn’t previously existed. This was the dawn of the “exploratory site,” a viral marketing campaign disguised as seemingly random sounds, images and animations.
What makes it technically compelling?
In nearly all sites, intuitive navigation is key to user satisfaction. A rare opposite, donniedarko.com was concepted to be the Information Age’s equivalent to Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books of previous decades. Recent generations are stimulated by media that unfolds as they journey deeper. Video games incorporate hidden levels. Movies have twist endings. Role-playing and fantasy card games offer limitless scenarios. Donniedarko.com is fueled by this idea as the site itself, is a journey.
The Flash programming behind the site includes multiple levels of navigation and areas only available to users with passwords found in previous sections. There are illusions of multiple browser windows coupled with a seamless fusion of video, sound clips and still images and the developers created entirely separate sites to further convey the realism of the site.
I believe it spawned the likes of The Manchurian Candidate movie site. It’s certainly our inspiration for our whoisaugustine.com, the exploratory site for Jonathan Safran Foer’sEverything is Illuminated.
How would you improve it? Or would you?
Donniedarko.com is a rare instance where the designers thought of everything. I wouldn’t dream of touching it.
What’s your job and where do you work?
I’m a graphic and Web designer at era404 Creative Group, Inc.
If you have a degree in what field is it?
Bachelor of Science in Visual Communication.
How did you get involved in this industry?
I’d always been interested in identity design and branding (I grew up reading cereal boxes and spent hours in front of shelves at Blockbuster) and my folks really encouraged me to explore the field during college visits. From the first day of class, I fell in love with it.
What’s your biggest Web (design) turn-off?
Plagiarism. Paul Gauguin said, “Art is either a revolutionist or a plagiarist.” The same is true for design, and more specifically Web design. Unfortunately, a lot of designers take the easy way out.
Who, in this industry (or not), has been your biggest inspiration?
Hi-Res (the creative team behind donniedarko.com) has consistently raised the bar. Also, I was fortunate enough to have two professors from Herman Miller’s design team during school that never settled for good enough. Other than that, the usual: Paul Rand, David Carson and Paula Scher.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve bought online?
Plastic bags for recycling. It’s sad that every place in New York charges an arm-and-a-leg for you to do the right thing. I should also say that I met my girlfriend online, though she probably wouldn’t like to be considered a “purchase.” Just another example about how something as cold an impersonal as the Internet can bring us all together.
What do you do in your spare time?
Drink entirely too much coffee in the East Village while sketching. Get lost in the museums in the city. Travel. And take the occasional, regretted turn behind a karaoke machine in Brooklyn.
What music are you listening to right now?
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bright Eyes, The Arcade Fire and I Am Kloot are getting a daily spins on my iTunes. I’ve also become a big fan of Jason Butler. His work makes a real driving playlist for design all-nighters and road trips.
What product/gadget can you not live without?
I wanted to be unique and name a something that few people use, but sadly it’s my cell phone. Although my George Foreman grill is a close second.
What’s your dream computer set-up?
I’m looking into getting one of those translucent screens that Tom Cruise used in Minority Report. If anyone notices them on the market in the next century, please drop me a line.
Recommended Links
The Herb Ritts Foundation Redesigns herbritts.com
July 15, 2005 - Press Releases
This month, The Herb Ritts Foundation redesigned herbritts.com to better promote their main two objectives: to continue Mr. Ritts’ longstanding support of HIV/AIDS research, and to support his great passion for photography and other forms of art.
Erik Asla, Ritts’ former photo assistant and creative consultant to The Herb Ritts Foundation, knew launching a site of this capacity would be a major undertaking. “The challenge was in finding a design/development firm that properly understood our vision as far as imagery, content and design was concerned,” said Asla. “I find too many web sites reflect the tools of the web designer rather than concentrate on the message and content of the web site owner.” It was important to find a firm with this understanding before beginning the redesign. “ERA404 got in touch with me and, as we discussed web design, we found each other to be on the same wavelength.”
“When Mr. Asla and I spoke last year, he’d mentioned the proposals he was receiving,” said ERA404 Creative Director, Don Citarella. “They were filled with Flashy animations and sounds. Other designers were losing sight of the simple elegance of Mr. Ritts’ work.”
“When we signed up ERA404 we were already aware of the high quality of the design team,” said Asla. “Our expectations when it came to interaction and communication were more than fulfilled.”
era404 interior page design for The Herb Ritts FoundationThe site itself incorporates a variety of features about the foundation and the late photography icon. Users can view a selection of Ritts’ work, a video about his career and resources on his books, articles, exhibitions and related materials. ERA404 incorporated their Content Management System, ERA404 CMS, to allow the foundation complete control over editing the site.
“We strive to be a conduit for the client’s vision,” said Chris Citarella of ERA404. “If the site isn’t representative of our client and they’re not satisfied with the quality, design and functionality, we haven’t done our job.”
Asla stated, “I found that the quality was outstanding. The timelines and the cost were within our parameters. I have already recommended ERA404 to others and we will continue to work with them for the foreseeable future.”
Herb Ritts enthusiasts may view the foundation’s new site by visiting www.herbritts.com.
era404 is best known for their work with Jonathan Safran Foer’s The Project Museum, the exploratory site for Everything is Illuminated, Who is Augustine, and Sanrio’s Hello Kitty’s 30th Anniversary at the Rockefeller Center (11/04).
Recommended Links
Communication Arts / Design Interact Site of the Week: Heartbeat Software
April 4, 2005 - Press Releases
Week of April 4: HeartbeatSoftware
This division of HeartbeatDigital creates custom software solutions for clients in healthcare and financial services.
This site has a laid back presence and it’s also a classic example of simple, elegant design structure. It’s a standout example of a strong, well-defined, information-focused site; it’s also organized, informative and logical with a design that supports the goal of getting facts to the end-user.
The content is a straightforward presentation of information with no bells-and-whistles. There are, however, a couple of unique inclusions: Since the software that Hearbeat designs for its clients is confidential, the developer needed an innovative solution for presenting the products without actually showing them. The creative execution (which involved photographing monitors through a loupe) uses distorted imagery to present ideas without giving away too much information. There’s also a nice use of a callouts, a familiar device borrowed from print design, for repackaging links to content. Although fairly common, we really liked the way they were done with drop shadows—it’s a small, yet effective design solution that draws more attention to the feature boxes. Because the company builds proprietary software, a call to Demo Our Products links only to a sign-up form; although we understand, it have been nice if they’d included some type of online demo.
Key to the information-based nature of the site is a navigation that’s clear and intuitive. With its streamlined interface and well-defined hierarchy it’s an easy-to-navigate resource for visitors who probably don’t have time for guessing how to access content and who aren’t overly interested in exploration for entertainment’s sake. Information is organized by industry, product name and solution and provides visitors with direct and efficient access to the products. A standard information structure and a top page navigation, consisting of pulldown menus with clearly delineated headings offer access to core sections. And, a sub-navigation in a standard left-hand position (with obvious cues and iconography) further defines top-page content. Once inside sections, heads are highlighted in the main nav bar and in the sub navigation—a simple, yet often overlooked feature that makes it easy for visitors to remember their location.
Most importantly, and key to the success of the site, clients have noted that the company’s reputation is reinforced by a professional, effective online presence.
Jonah Meyers, HeartbeatSoftware/HeartbeatDigital, creative director/art director
Don Citarella, ERA404 Creative Group, assistant art director/developer
Heartbeat Digital Contracts ERA404 for Web and New Media Design
February 14, 2005 - Press Releases
NEW YORK CITY — Since May 2004, New York City-based Heartbeat Digital has contracted era404 Creative Group for Web and New Media Design on a variety of projects.
era404 Creative Group (www.era404.com), a team of designers, developers and artisans, has been offering on- and off-site work to their nationwide clientbase since 2001.
Heartbeat Digital creates custom Websites and high-value Web software for Fortune 500 companies and other industry-leading organizations. Their clients have come to trust Heartbeat to deliver a well-integrated blend of three core skills: strategy, design, and technology, with strategy always coming first. With this mentality, the company has a strict selection process for subcontractors to assist in the services they’ve been offering for the past decade.
“ERA404 came highly recommended to us and we brought them in to discuss their capabilities and learn of the possibilities of working with their team,” said Heartbeat Creative Director Chris Whaites.
Following the initial interview, Heartbeat selected ERA404 Designer Don Citarella to work onsite on a project for one of their most prestigious pharmaceutical clients.
“From the beginning, Heartbeat Digital welcomed me as a member of the team,” said Don Citarella. “They had some great ideas for their clients and were looking for assistance with implementation. Before I knew it, I was included in creative meetings with their clients, brainstorming sessions to generate new ideas and strategy meetings for moving forward. I’ve never seen a team operate so well together, so quickly. The quality of the work they do is outstanding.”
Nine months after the initial meeting, Heartbeat continues to employ ERA404 subcontractors on- and off-site for a variety of their projects. “The folks at ERA404 have delivered for us time and time again, said Heartbeat President, Jonah Meyers. “The quality of their creative coupled with their knowledge of the latest development techniques keeps them ahead of the game.”
era404 is best known for their work with Sanrio’s Hello Kitty’s 30th Anniversary at theRockefeller Center (11/04), the Target Holiday Boat (Christmas 2002), and Target Benchmark’s Central Park at Christie’s (11/03).
Upcoming work for ERA404 includes The Herb Ritts Foundation’s online presence, andJonathan Safran Foer’s web site for his new novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
About era404
Established in August 2001, ERA404 Creative Group, Inc. is a New York-based design, development and marketing agency which shoulders an impressive list of clients ranging from not-for-profit organizations to Fortune-1000 companies nationwide.
ERA404 provides full-service execution of Irwin Entertainment’s Corporate Identity
January 5, 2005 - Press Releases
NEW YORK CITY — On January 25, 2005, Technical Director Mike Citarella teamed up with Designer Gary Keenan, to undertake the expansion of Irwin Entertainment’s identity throughout a battery of broadcast and print media.
Keenan, a designer at NYC-based post production and broadcast design house, Creative Group, Inc., concepted broadening Irwin Entertainment’s image, and selected ERA404 after a number of notable collaborations in the past three years.
“Since Irwin Entertainment is a newly formed entertainment company, our aim was to create a strong identity that evoked a sense of excitement and reinforced the company’s image across all media,” Keenan said, building a solid strategy from the onset of the project.
Irwin Entertainment founder, John Irwin, is executive producer for 12 episodes of “Bad Boys of Comedy” for Paramount Studios and supervising producer for 26 episodes of “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry” for HBO. Upholding this reputation and enforcing his company’s brand recognition became an immediate priority for ERA404.
“I completely trust Gary’s intuition about constructing mood and allure in his work. I think we were very successful in tailoring our design to the style of Irwin Entertainment,” added Mike Citarella, who executed the 3D animation.
Together, ERA404 with Keenan directing, storyboarded, developed and delivered two versions of Irwin Entertainment’s six second hero logo animation, to be the exclusive identifier used when crediting the company’s standard- and hi-definition broadcasts.
The project was then handed over to ERA404 Creative Director, Don Citarella, to begin development on an impressionable stationery system and business card design.
“Because of Irwin Entertainment’s bold identity, we wanted the stationery system to have the same impact that our client is known for— energetic and unprecidented work. Similarly, each piece incorporates the excitement of their brand and provides the recipient a surprise when turning over the cards, opening the envelopes, unfolding the letterhead, etc.”
This strategy was carried out by applying the strong type positively and reversed on both sides of all printed material and resulted in a solid and elegant package.
era404 is best known for their work with Sanrio’s Hello Kitty’s 30th Anniversary at the Rockefeller Center (11/04), the Target Holiday Boat (Christmas 2002), and Target Benchmark’s Central Park at Christie’s (11/03).
Upcoming work for ERA404 includes Herb Ritts Foundation’s online presence, and Jonathon Safran Foer’s web site for his new novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Sound design for this clip has been provided by:
Haddon Kime: (www.haddonkime.com)
About era404
Established in August 2000, ERA404 Creative Group, Inc. is a New York-based design, development and marketing agency which shoulders an impressive list of clients ranging from not-for-profit organizations to Fortune-1000 companies nationwide.
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ERA404 designs/develops food mag site for Instant Comma, Inc.
December 1, 2004 - Press Releases
NEW YORK CITY — On October 19, 2004, in time for the holiday season, era404 Creative Group, Inc., launched the Web presence for CHOW Magazine.
According to CHOW and Instant Comma, Inc., founder, Jane Goldman, CHOW is a a magazine “for people who love food, drink and fun—and think all three belong together.” The site, designed by ERA404 Designer Chris Whaites and developed by ERA404 Developer, Juliano Ghisi, features insight into current issues, subscription and gift options, as well as a fully automated shopping cart system.
“We were extremely excited to work with [Instant Comma, Inc.],” said ERA404 Creative Director, Don Citarella. “We had the opportunity to be part of the launch of a new magazine with such a unique and niche culture. Their team had some great ideas and the whole process was enjoyable.”
The process began as CHOW CIO, Carol Balacek, fielded offers for a Web design/development partner. “ERA404 submitted a great proposal,” said Balacek. “It demonstrated an understanding of our particular needs, along with sound implementation strategies, and a willingness to commit to tight deadlines. In addition, the costs were reasonable, and I immediately liked both Don and Chris when I met them.”
As with all projects, unforeseen challenges emerged along the way.
“We changed our priorities during the development process, and ERA404 was quick to shift gears to meet our new requirements,” said Balacek. “They proved to be flexible and professional.” As a result, the magazine decided to print ERA404 Creative Group as the Web Designers/Developers in their information page.
The site launched in mid-October of this year, just in time for stocking stuffers and “foodies” (a term Goldman uses to describe her audience) to start preparing for the holiday season.
“I admit,” remarked Citarella, “I’m a huge fan of the magazine, site and food in general. All of my friends and family will be receiving subscriptions this year.”
era404 is currently working on The Herb Ritts Foundation’s online presence, and Jonathon Safran Foer’s web site for his new novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
About era404
Established in August 2000, ERA404 Creative Group, Inc. is a New York-based design, development and marketing agency which shoulders an impressive list of clients ranging from not-for-profit organizations to Fortune-1000 companies nationwide.
Recommended Links
Going, Going, Gone!
November 24, 2003 - Press Releases
RANDM, NYC-based events and fashion show producer, commissioned Don Citarella, of ERA404 Creative Group (www.era404.com), to illustrate 20 wall-sized murals as a backdrop for the Target Benchmarks Central Park event at Christie’s. Below is the story that ran on the Central Park Web site.
11-24-2003—It was a night to remember as Christie’s hosted the Central Park Conservancy’sfirst benefit auction on Thursday, November 20. Presided over by Regina Peruggi, president of the Conservancy, and trustee Candice Bergen, the event raised close to $400,000 for the ongoing care and preservation of Central Park. The evening included both silent bids and a live auction, which was conducted by Christie’s auctioneer John Hayes. This was the grand finale of Target Benchmarks Central Park , a public art project that transformed 53 ordinary park benches into unique works of art.
Among the celebrities, eminent artists, designers, and architects who created one-of-a-kind park benches were Liza Minneli, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Rivers, the cast of Saturday Night Live, and Rudolph Giuliani; fashion designers Diane von Furstenberg and Nicole Miller; architects Michael Graves and Charles Gwathmey; and artists James Rosenquist, Jenny Holzer, Ross Bleckner, Joel Shapiro, Kenny Scharf, and Donald Lipski. Joining the Conservancy at the auction celebration were several New York personalities including Morley Safer and artists Kenny Scharf and Joel Shapiro.
The Conservancy thanks Target and Christie’s for their generous support with this project.
http://www.centralparknyc.org/375/?art=51955
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ERA404 illustrates Target Benchmark Event at Christie’s
November 20, 2003 - Press Releases
NEW YORK CITY—On November 20, 2003, Target held their “Target Benchmarks Central Park” auction at Christie’s and ERA404 was pleased to again participate in its production.
“We’ve worked with Target twice in the past,” said ERA404 Creative Director Don Citarella, “and always look forward to their projects. They consistently create wonderful events. We’re thrilled to work with them.” In the past, ERA404 teamed up with events and fashion show production company, RANDM, to design the Target Holiday Boat for Christmas 2002 and the Sonia Kashuk Ice Cream truck, which promoted her new line to NYC fashion editors.
Rand Burrus, a principal of RANDM and producer for “Target Benchmarks Central Park,” agreed that the overall outcome of the event exceeded his own expectations. “It is always great working with a great team and we definitely had one on this project!” His vision was to transform Christie’s, the Rockefeller Center Auction House, into a giant sketchbook complete with 20 8′ x 8′ illustrations of Central Park themes. The black-and-white gestural sketches would set the mood for the evening and allow the colors and designs of the benches to jump out.
“I am always amazed at what ERA404 creates!” he said. They have a way of perfectly designing the concepts I see in my head. It was the same thing for the Target Boat. “The quality of work is excellent. The turnaround on each and every project was amazing. Any changes or revisions were always done instantly. The cost is very reasonable and is a great deal considering the quality of work.”
For more about era404, stop by the company’s Web site at: www.era404.com.
About era404
Established in August 2000, ERA404 is a New York-based marketing agency which shoulders an impressive list of clients ranging from nonprofit organizations to Fortune-1000 companies nationwide. They have a satellite office in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
For further information, please contact: Don Citarella, era404
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ERA404 is Right On Target
November 23, 2002 - Press Releases
Holiday Boat Producer Commends Design Work
NEW YORK CITY—Following the launch of the Target Corporation’s New York City holiday promotion, the USS Target, nothing but praises could be heard from the boat’s producer and event coordinator, Rand Burrus.
Mr. Burrus, of RANDM is no stranger to working with accounts the size of the USS Target. The list of businesses and people they’ve worked with is almost as impressive as the events they produce: Armani, BCBG, Disney, Gap, General Motors, Nautica, Ralph Lauren and Estee Lauder, just to name a few.
During the launch, however, one business was on his mind. “I was very pleased with ERA404. They put in tremendous effort to understand the concepts and work to achieve customer satisfaction,” said the RANDM principal about the event’s design company.
RANDM asked era404 to coordinate all onsite design work for the USS Target and its adjoining three tents. The event included a display of 92 of the retailer’s hottest products for the holiday season, a redemption center, Internet ordering stations, gift-wrapping, refreshments, and Santa Claus himself, decked head to toe in a Target-dotted suit. “They were recommended to us by a friend of ours. We hadn’t worked with them in the past.”
Mr. Burrus went on to reflect on the company’s practices. “I was very delighted with the attention to detail. It is a great benefit to be able to show a client exactly what you have in mind for a project. With my latest project, the comment I heard most often was…’It looks exactly like the renderings. This is unbelievable!’.”
This was no stretch of the truth, either. The producer was referring to a comment from John Remington, Vice President of Events Marketing of the Target Corporation. Upon entering the tent after viewing the event’s creative, one could feel a sense of déjà vu.
When asked if RANDM intended on working with ERA404 again, the producer’s answer was assuredly clear.
“The quality of work is excellent. The turnaround on each and every project was amazing. Any changes or revisions were always done instantly. The cost is very reasonable and is a great deal considering the quality of work.” Mr. Burrus went on to provide one of the design business’s greatest compliments. “I have already recommended them to many friends and associates and will continue to do so. ERA404 is a great young company to work with.”
About era404
Established in August 2000, ERA404 is a New York-based marketing agency which shoulders an impressive list of clients ranging from nonprofit organizations to Fortune-1000 companies nationwide. They have a satellite office in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
For further information, please contact: Don Citarella, era404
Recommended Links
